Abstract

BOUAH, N  and  JACOBS, C. A Child's Right to Identity in the Context of Embryo Donation: Lessons from Australia and New Zealand, Part 2. PER [online]. 2024, vol.27, n.1, pp.1-27. ISSN 1727-3781.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2024/v27i0a15132.

In part 1 of this article the current level of protection of the right to identity both at the national and international levels were considered in the case of embryo donation. It was concluded that at a national level the National Health Act, its accompanying regulations and the Children's Act fail to protect this right. The constitutional provisions on children's rights are also unhelpful in providing the requisite level of protection. At an international level it was further found that neither the CRC nor the ACRWC explicitly uphold the child's right to identity in the case of embryo donation. In an attempt to address this defect, this article compares the legal protection provided for the right to identity of children born through embryo donation in Australia and New Zealand. A number of lessons can be drawn from this comparative analysis. At a national level the article submits that the birth certificate should indicate the child's true origins and in addition to a register which holds the particulars of the child's donor parents, a separate donor sibling register is also suggested. Legislative amendments are also suggested to Parliament. At an international level, the following recommendations are made: a new United Nations (UN) Convention which centres on Assisted Reproductive Technology, a General Comment drafted by the CRC Committee to cover specific issues and interests of children, ratification of a Convention by the Hague Conference, and an investigation into the concerns raised by international embryo donation to be carried out by the International Social Service Network should be accomplished. Further, the article concludes that an Africa-based instrument would not be as effective as a UN proposed solution, given the cultural and religious concerns in traditional African societies.

Keywords : Assisted reproductive technologies; disclosure; donor-conceived child; embryo donation; gamete donor.

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